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Monday, February 28, 2011

The EU won the Olympics, the World Cup...and now an Oscar

The EU won the 2006 and 2010 World Cups in football (at least according to Romani Prodi and Jean-Claude Trichet, so it has to be true).

It also won the 2008 Olympics, according to highly credible EU-funded sources.

Now, it has upped its game yet another notch and raked in the film world's greatest prize - an Oscar.

The "King’s Speech”, which won several Oscars at last night's ceremony, apparently received €562,000 in “distribution support” from the EU’s Media Programme. Stopping just short of "there are a few people that I want to thank...", Androulla Vassiliou, the European commissioner in charge of cultural issues, wasted little time in claiming the EU's share of the credit (in what the FT Brussels blog labels "an acceptance speech"),

"What a great night for the European film industry and the Media programme. Europe loves cinema and the world loves our films. This shows that the European film industry can compete with the best."

After such an accomplishment, all eyes now turn to Euro 2012 (the football tournament, not the currency), where we're told the EU has an excellent chance of repeating its record of success.